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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-14 Daily Xml
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HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMPLAINTS COMMISSIONER

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (15:12): My question is to the Minister for Health.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs GERAGHTY: Can the minister give details of what is happening with the Health Complaints Commission?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (15:12): I am very happy to answer this question. I would have liked to have answered the question from the member opposite, so I hope I will address the issues that he raised.

The Health Complaints Commission was established by legislation some seven or eight years ago and the current incumbent, Ms Sudano, was appointed at that time for a seven-year term. That seven-year term comes to an end towards the middle of this year.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition, be quiet. The Minister for Transport, be quiet.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The term comes to the conclusion at the end of this year. I indicated to her that we would be advertising for that position. It is my view, and it is certainly a view that I think cabinet shares, that these kinds of positions, that are long-term, independent authorities appointed for a longish period of time, should be advertised from time to time, otherwise you—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: We did it, for example, with the guardian of children. So, this is a policy—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Bragg! Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I am happy to answer all the questions. They can ask me a dozen questions, I will answer all of them.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for MacKillop!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The government made a determination, based on a submission from me, that the position should be readvertised, as is, I think, proper for a position that has a seven-year term, and that is exactly what we did. The commissioner spoke to me about it and wrote to me finally and said that she wasn't going to seek renomination for that position.

An honourable member: Why?

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Well, you would have to ask her why she made that decision. I am not going to verbal her the way that you are trying to verbal me, I would say to the opposition. Leena Sudano indicated to me that she was not going to reapply for the position.

Ms Chapman: Lea Stevens was better than you.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: You are entitled to your opinions, member for Bragg.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The question about funding was the other point that was made by the member opposite, which I go to. The funding for the office of the commissioner has been maintained this year. The former families and communities department (now Department for Communities and Social Inclusion) decided that they were not getting value for money for the funding they were providing to the office for work in relation to, I think, the disability sector.

There were very few requests for the use of the commissioner in that area, and they were putting in several hundred thousand dollars, from memory, and they said they were going to use that money for other purposes. That was conveyed to the commissioner. I went to the Treasury and ensured that we had bridging funding of the same quantum for this financial year. So, there was no reduction in funding for these services; in fact, there was a reduction in the work that was expected by the commissioner over that period of time.

Members will also recall that there was an independent investigation conducted into the operations of the commission and, in particular, it benchmarked the cost of the provision of services by our commissioner against other commissions or equivalent commissions around Australia, and it found that the cost in South Australia was very high and that the budget that was given to the commissioner was completely adequate for the job that she had to do.

She disagreed with that assessment, I think it is fair to say, and she has maintained that disagreement. It doesn't mean she is right, but it means she has a different view about it. I also draw to members' attention an investigation into these matters by the upper house committee a year or two ago which had similar findings to those of that independent investigation.

So, the bottom line is that we have made a decision to consider whether or not, from a cost-benefit point of view, the position of the commissioner should be included within the office of the Ombudsman because they provide Ombudsman-style services. I think that is a good idea. We will put that out for consultation and discussion and certainly seek the views of those on the other side as to whether or not it has merit.

In the meantime, we will appoint an acting or interim commissioner for a year while we go through that investigation process. Ms Sudano has decided not to apply for the job. That was her decision not mine.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!


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